Are you prepared to respond to claims of harassment? Allegations of harassment are all over the news and there are no signs of this national trend letting up anytime soon. For organizations, there is no better time than now to assess your readiness to prevent or appropriately respond to claims of harassment. Claims of harassment…if [...]
We’re excited to announce a new collaboration with Organizational Architecture. OA is a strategic partner in the design and development of systems to attract, retain, develop, and motivate your organization’s talent through sound business practices and processes. OA’s Mark Fiala and Warren & Associates’ Sindy Warren have worked together over the years on a number [...]
The #MeToo conversation continues. Sindy is a featured speaker at the Cleveland Women’s Networking Group event “How to Spot and Stop Sexual Harassment” on February 27th at the Music Box Supper Club. (Click here for tickets) Sindy and Ann-Marie Ahern, an employment attorney at McCarthy, Lebit, Cristal & Liffman, will discuss how employers and employees [...]
One thing is for sure. We expect to see an increase in harassment claims as the public becomes more knowledgeable and less tolerant of employers who don’t protect employees from harassment and discrimination. Companies both large and small, across diverse industries, will be held accountable
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that we've been bombarded with news of egregious claims of sexual harassment against industry leaders (Weinstein and O'Reilly, for starters). You've also likely seen the #metoo campaign, where women of all ages and industries publicly share their experiences with sexual harassment and abuse. This is a [...]
It can be a major problem for the workplace. Especially if said employees work in the same department, interact with the same people, and are expected to collaborate. So what can an employer do?
When a workplace investigator is engaged to look into a complaint such as discrimination or harassment, it is absolutely critical that the investigator be -- and appear to be -- a neutral party.
Earlier this month the Eighth Circuit court of appeals reversed summary judgment in an age-discrimination case, sending the case to trial. In Hilde v. City of Eveleth, Lieutenant Hilde applied for the Chief of Police position after his boss retired.
You've just been cleared of allegations made by a co-worker that you're a "bully." But now you have to go work closely with the person who accused you of being a bully.
According to the Fourth Circuit in the recent case of Walker v. Mod-U-Kraf Homes, pretty darn often. The Walker court stated "whether harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive is quintessentially a question of fact."
Pay discrimination claims are on the rise. Take the recent case of
We got terrible news Sunday. My daughter's 5th grade teacher (she is now in 6th grade) was killed in a hit and run accident. The school where he taught is comprised of 5th and 6th grade. So most of the students either had a connection to him or have a friend who did. It's a [...]
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) provides that men and women are entitled to equal pay for equal work. Simple enough. But what happens if a man negotiates for himself a higher salary? Is that just business as usual, or do we have an EPA problem?
You know how important it is to correctly classify employees as exempt (not entitled to overtime) and non-exempt (entitled to overtime). You know the Department of Labor and plaintiff's lawyers like to tag employers guilty of even inadvertent misclassifications for big money in unpaid
You likely know that the NLRB has a lot to say about employers disciplining employees based on their use of social media (and I've blogged
When an employee requests a reasonable accommodation, the employer is obligated to engage in the "interactive process," which is a dialogue between employer and employee to try to come up with a reasonable accommodation. What if an employee's proffered accommodation conflicts with a well-established rule or policy?
When you think of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the first thing to pop into mind might be employee misclassification (i.e., calling non-exempt employees exempt and thereby owing lots of unpaid overtime). I know it is for me.
I am a proud member of AWI, the Association of Workplace Investigators. AWI is a national organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing the quality of workplace investigations. AWI is an incredible resource for those of us in the world of workplace investigations.
A key element of any retaliation claim is a "causal connection" between the protected activity and the adverse action. How much evidence of a causal connection is necessary for an employee to get past summary judgment (a pre-trial stage in litigation when the defendant tries to get the case thrown out) and take a case to trial? Sometimes, not all that much.
A recent case makes this seemingly obvious point clear. It's good news for employers, who would do well to copy the employer's actions here. In EEOC v. Kohl's Dept Stores, decided just last month, a diabetic employee sought to have her shift changed as an accommodation under the ADA.
Happy New Year! You may have noticed I took a blogging-break the past couple of months. Well, new year and all that, and I'm back. I've got lots of renewed energy to talk all things employment law and HR as we usher in 2015.
The Seventh Circuit recently sent an ADA case to trial, reversing a lower court's grant of summary judgment to the employer.
A federal jury in Florida just ruled in favor of a one-armed security guard who was effectively fired after a customer complained about his assignment. The customer called the security company a "joke"
Today I attended Littler Mendelson's 2014 Ohio Employer Conference. Littler is one of the preeminent employer-side labor and employment firms in the country. I sat through several sessions on hot topics
Everyone in Northeast Ohio knows that the the second nurse to have contracted Ebola flew into Akron/Canton airport a couple of weeks ago, visited Cleveland, where she began to exhibit symptoms of the disease, and then flew back to Dallas out of Akron/Canton. There has been a lot